Steroids are called “gear” because the term works as discreet shorthand in gym culture, borrowing from a word that already means equipment or personal belongings. In a gym setting, someone talking about “gear” could plausibly be referring to lifting belts, shoes, or workout accessories, which gives the word a built-in layer of cover when the actual topic is anabolic steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs.
How “Gear” Became Gym Slang
The word “gear” has a long history as general British and Australian slang for illicit drugs and drug paraphernalia, including heroin and injecting equipment. It wasn’t invented by bodybuilders. What happened is that gym culture adopted a term that was already circulating in broader drug slang, then narrowed its meaning. In fitness spaces, “gear” almost exclusively refers to anabolic steroids and similar performance-enhancing substances.
The timing lines up with the growth of competitive bodybuilding from the 1970s onward, when steroid use became widespread but increasingly frowned upon (and eventually criminalized). The United States classified anabolic steroids as controlled substances in 1990, making casual conversation about them riskier. A vague, multipurpose word like “gear” let people discuss use, sourcing, and dosing in gyms, online forums, and locker rooms without being immediately obvious to outsiders. You can “be on gear,” “run gear,” or “take gear,” and anyone outside the culture would assume you’re talking about your gym bag.
Why “Gear” Stuck Over Other Slang
Steroids have no shortage of street names. Oregon’s public health resources list slang terms including roids, juice, hype, pumpers, gym candy, Arnolds, stackers, and weight trainers. Most of these are transparently about drugs. “Roids” is just a shortened version of the word itself. “Juice” is common but widely recognized. “Gym candy” and “Arnolds” are playful but obvious.
“Gear” survived and became dominant for a few reasons. First, it’s genuinely ambiguous. Second, it sounds neutral, even mundane, which makes it easy to drop into conversation. Third, it scales well online. Forum posts, YouTube comments, and Reddit threads can reference “gear” without triggering content moderation filters that might flag more explicit drug terminology. In fitness communities today, it’s by far the most common euphemism, understood almost universally by anyone who spends time in bodybuilding or strength training spaces.
What “Gear” Actually Covers
In strict usage, “gear” refers to anabolic steroids: synthetic versions of testosterone that accelerate muscle growth and recovery. These are the classic injectable and oral compounds that competitive bodybuilders and recreational lifters have used for decades. But the term has expanded. Depending on who’s using it and where, “gear” can also encompass growth hormone, peptides, and sometimes even newer compounds like SARMs (selective androgen receptor modulators), which target muscle and bone tissue more narrowly than traditional steroids.
SARMs occupy a gray area. They aren’t approved for medical use, and organizations like the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency track popular varieties such as Ostarine, Ligandrol, and Testolone. Some gym communities include SARMs under the “gear” umbrella; others reserve the word strictly for injectable anabolic steroids. Context usually makes the meaning clear. If someone says they’re “running gear,” they almost always mean traditional anabolic steroids. If the conversation is about SARMs specifically, people tend to name them directly.
How You’ll Hear It Used
The most common phrases are straightforward. “On gear” means someone is currently using steroids. “Natural” or “natty” is the opposite, describing someone who isn’t. “Running gear” means actively going through a cycle of steroid use. You’ll also see “gear” used as an adjective in compound phrases: a “gear user,” a “gear head,” or simply asking whether a physique is “natty or gear.”
The term carries less stigma inside fitness communities than words like “doping” or “drug use,” which is part of why it persists. It frames steroid use as a tool, something functional and mechanical, rather than something illicit. That linguistic framing isn’t accidental. For people who use steroids, “gear” normalizes the practice by placing it alongside all the other equipment they rely on to train.